|
I confess to
being a Lost fan for the last six years. The finale is over and it was something. Though the
show reeked with a plethora of opposing worldviews, (which was intended) the writers and producers had a plot, storyline,
strong characters (which were created and based on great actors' personalities after they were chosen) and these characters
had an unbelievable chemistry with one another. Sci Fi Meets Romance meets Survivor, except in the end, this show revealed
it was against the Darwinistic approach of Survivor and for the redemption of people. And boy did they pull it together in
the end. Cynics beaten down by life will hate the ending, but any softness within made for many tears. Despite the writers
universalistic approach to theology, more by default because they were more dancing around theological issues than trying
to make a passionate stand for Universalism, they succeeded in communicating that good prevails over evil and the love expressed
between the players was in fact - real. In this culture, I don't expect the secular writers to be able to lead people to the
Cross, but their show makes a powerful case, even though un-intended, for the Cross and why Jesus died. It opens the door
to see a love unrivaled and unequaled for all eternity. People understand that hearts need fellowship and love. We get this
trait from God, in whose image we were made. The difference is that in life, many put faith in themselves or a selfish and
proud deity and eventually drown within the selfishness of their own hearts; But freedom comes from viewing His humble heart
which can't help but consume ours as we see Him. We beat Him down and Love Himself kept coming for us. The Cross is who God
is in His heart, not this presenty and suffocating, hovering Power in the air which wears many faces in religion, including
Islam and ChristianISM, prayerless churchianity and Christianized activism. The Cross speaks not of utlitiarian fire
insurance, but of a heart so Humble that creation demands that hearts and knees bow. His heart touches every area, including relationships. What we feel matters and though God
is a Person, not a feeling, He intends to be felt. In this, the show's writers, both ironically and sadly, showed themselves
more in the know concerning the heart of God than most churched people. But accompanied
with the Lost finale was a real emptiness, just like the movie Titanic, where the deepest part of the soul is touched, even
awakened, but with no certainty (and safety) of truth. Such certainty is left to the opinion of the individual. They must
hope to guess right. Even most pew sitters have a head logic of the Gospel, but do not know Him deep down. And the kind of
rescue and security presented in the Lost finale seems distant to everyday people in everyday life. This is another reason why we must serve as legal and literal conduits of the Holy Spirit in prayer, so He
can speak directly to hearts via prayer. But the unmentioned,
unidentfied Heart (Light) presented in the show is real. As American Christians, we have shirked back from pointing to the
Heart on the Cross by getting pridefully bogged down in a culture war which we are losing big time. Christians, on both the
left and right, have done the Heart on the Cross and the people He loves a great disservice. We reduce the church to a pride-filled
civic club and attach our pride to the Cross. I recently heard a a pastor brag about how he gave his heart to Christ some
25 years ago. God sure must have been helped. No, we do not deserve Him, or even each other. You won't find anyone else Who pleads your case while you kill Him and counts
Himself blessed to win your company in order to forgive you and treat you as a friend - as if you never hurt Him. This love
is insane and will either burn inside you or you will burn in it for an eternity - either way...Love has come. Love is here. Denying Jesus is denying Love. The framework of
the show was their creativity, but the power of it, was their tapping into the sacred depths of the soul created in God's
image. Only the love of Someone as humble as Jesus can heal that wound carried in every soul on the planet. Some may band-aid
it with religious pride, but it does not last. May we worship Love Himself more and more and may He fill us to overflowing
and invade others' lives. There's nothing like hearing Him say: "I love
you".
|
